In computer systems, disk drives are typically used to store data. Data can be read from and written to the disk drive. FIG. 1A depicts a 3 dimensional perspective illustration of a prior art disk drive 100 and FIG. 1B depicts a 2 dimensional perspective illustration of the same prior art disk drive 100. Here, “computer” means any host system and associated disk drive(s) that could be a desktop or notebook, personal computer server, data storage system, or consumer electronics device, such as an audio player, video recorder, Global Positioning System (GPS), car navigator, etc. An example of an audio player is an MP3 audio player.
A disk drive 100 is typically comprised of a disk enclosure 102 having a base and cover and includes one or more platters 106 (also commonly known as “magnetic disks”), an arm 104, and a read/write head 110 that is attached to the arm 104, among other things. The platter 106 rotates around a central drive hub 108 while the arm 104 is used to position the read/write head 110 on the desired location for reading data from or writing data to the platter 106. Once the arm 104 has positioned the read/write head 110 on the correct position, the read/write head 110 reads data from or writes data to the platter 106.
FIG. 1A depicts a 3 dimensional perspective illustration of a disk drive 100 where the 3 dimensions are represented by the x-axis 112, y-axis 116, and z-axis 114. FIG. 1B depicts a 2 dimensional perspective illustration of the same disk drive 100 where the 2 dimensions are presented by the x-axis 112 and the z-axis 114. The z-axis 114 is perpendicular to the central drive hub 108. The x-axis 112 is depicted as running along the shortest side of the disk drive 100 while the y-axis 116 is depicted as running along the longest side of the disk drive 100. Moving a disk drive 100 quickly in an up and down motion, from being dropped for example, would result in the disk drive 100 being subjected to a shock along the z-axis 114. In this case, there is a potential for the read/write head 110 coming into contact with the platter 106 resulting in loss of data and/or permanent damage to the surface of the platter 106 if a drive 100 is in operating condition.
Disk drives 100 have to be designed to withstand shocks resulting from being dropped or moved quickly from side to side. For example, usually after a disk drive 100 has been inserted into a computer, the computer and the associated disk drive 100 remain in a relatively stable position. However, before the disk drive 100 has been inserted into the computer, for example, while the disk drive 100 is being transported from the manufacturers to a customer, or while the disk drive 100 is being installed into a computer, the disk drive 100 is prone to being dropped, moved quickly from side to side, rotated, tilted, etc. If a disk drive 100 is subjected to shocks in non-operating state, it will cause motor bearing damage and/or cause the platter 106 to slip along the X-Y plane, or cause damage to the platter 106 if the read/write head 110 comes in contact with the platter 106. Such shocks can also degrade the disk drive 100's performance. And if the shock level is big enough, it results in loss of data on the platter 106.
Therefore, various mechanisms have been devised for protecting the disk drive 100 from damage resulting from shocks. One mechanism that has been devised for protecting a disk drive 100 from being damaged involves using shock absorbers 104, such as springs or dampening material, to couple the disk drive 100 to the enclosure 102 surrounding the disk drive.
FIGS. 1C–1F depict a prior art disk drive supported within an enclosure that uses shock absorbers. FIG. 1C is a top view of a disk drive within that enclosure. FIG. 1D is a rotated view of the disk within that enclosure. FIG. 1E is a side view along the y-axis 116 of the disk drive within that enclosure. FIG. 1F is a side view along the x-axis 112 of the disk drive within that enclosure. The shock absorbers 104 can absorb a certain amount of the shock energy, thus, reducing the amount of the energy that is transferred from the enclosure 102 to the disk drive 100. Thus, the shock absorbers 104 can minimize the possibility of damage to the disk drive 100 while the disk drive 100 is being transported or being installed, for example.
However, once the disk drive 100 supported within the enclosure 102 is installed, the shock absorbers can reduce the disk drive 100's performance. For example, when read or write operations are being performed, the arm 104 moves back and forth over the platter 106 of the disk drive 100 resulting in a certain amount of vibration with in the disk drive 100. In this case, the shock absorbers can accentuate the vibration thus increasing the amount of time the arm 104 needs for seeking the requested data from the platter 106. The shock absorbers can amplify the environmental vibration around its fundamental frequency range (such as 300 Hz to 400 Hz). If there is a strong environmental vibration in this frequency range, the shock absorber can degrade the drive performance, for example.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for an apparatus that minimize the possibility of damage to the disk drive while the disk drive is being transported or being installed but at the same time does not reduce the disk drive's performance.